He Entertains Friends On A Combine Violin

He entertains friends on a combine violin AG WORLD Ag World 10-6-17 "Sounds almost like the real thing," says Tom Beattie, Speers, Sask., who entertains friends and relatives on a "combine" violin he carved from the wooden pitman drive off an old Cockshutt combine. Beattie says he had to do a lot of carving on the hard maple pitman to whittle it down to the standard dimensions of a violin. He also carved the base plate, frets, and string keys. Two pudding tins attached to either side of the instrument project the sound. "It's a little shriller than a regular violin but not much. I carry it in a narrow case and people always get a laugh when I pull it out," says Beattie, who's played the instrument for several years and even built several replicas on request. He says he no longer builds combine violins. He's making walking sticks now. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Beattie, Box 15, Speers, Sask. S0M 2V0 (ph 306 246-2152).

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